Rescued?
Readings: Jeremiah 14:7-10, 19-22, Psalm 84:1-7, 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18, and Luke 18:9-14 “The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and save me for his heavenly kingdom.” Paul writes this in our reading from 2 Timothy for this morning. “The Lord will rescue me.” And I was struck by this sentence because—I mean, what does it really mean? Taken literally, it means…
Contentment
Readings: Amos 6:1a, 4-7, Psalm 146, 1 Timothy 6:6-19, Luke 16:19-31 I have a vivid memory of this one morning during seminary. It was during the summer, when I was working in an office. That meant I was answering phones, stuffing envelopes, making copies, that sort of thing. It was a good job, and one that I enjoyed. It was the summer I was finally confident enough that…
But what does it mean??
Readings: Amos 8:4-7, Psalm 113, 1 Timothy 2:1-7, Luke 16:1-13 As I was reading about our parable in preparation for preaching this morning, the opening line of the first book I read was, “None of the parables of Jesus has baffled interpreters quite like the story of the dishonest steward.”* Great. That’s exactly what I want to hear as I’m just…
Everyday Prayer
Sarah had been in a car accident. She was driving down the highway after getting coffee when someone pulled into traffic without looking, and although she’d survived and walked out of the hospital, she didn’t seem to be getting better. She was having trouble walking; her back and her hips hurt. Physical therapy and medication weren’t making things any…
Mary & Martha & You
Scripture: Luke 10:38-42 Our gospel passage for today is one of those times where I can see the merits of both sides. So often people read this passage and try to pit Mary and Martha against each other. Martha represents work and Mary represents contemplation; Mary was better than Martha; Jesus approves of Mary but not Martha. But it’s not as simple as that.…
The Good Samaritan?
When I say ‘Good Samaritan,’ you’d probably know what I meant even if I hadn’t read the passage from Luke just now (which, to be fair, doesn’t use the phrase at all). It’s a phrase we all know and have even used of someone who’s been especially kind or generous. But even though we all know this parable, I suspect, I think…
Embrace
Scripture: Isaiah 66:10-14 Some context before we begin talking about the passage itself: most scholars divide the book of Isaiah into three parts. The first deals with God’s judgment of Israel and warnings to stop sinning. This was when Israel still had kings and was an independent nation. The second part of Isaiah is after the kingdom of Israel has fallen and the…
Freedom
Scripture: Galatians 5:1, 13-25 I read a book called The Year of Less by Cait Flanders probably every year or two. It’s about how she one day realized that she had too much stuff, and bought too much stuff, and so spent a year not only getting rid of as much of her stuff as she could, but also not buying anything new (except, of course, food and other necessities). And I…
Set Up A Table
Now that I work at the library, I have started reading picture books. I see them all the time when I’m shelving or helping get new books ready to be checked out, and they’re so interesting! They have beautiful illustrations, they’re fun or silly or deeply true, and… and OK, yes, I also love feeling accomplished because I read a book in three…
Wisdom
I have in my notes here to come up with a clever introduction. I did not do that, so we’re just going to jump right in. I’d like to start with Proverbs 8. Here we have a poem about wisdom, personified as a woman. Wisdom goes all around and to all sorts of places, inviting people to live a wise life. Then Wisdom speaks, painting a picture of her life with God:…